Ethics And Values Problems Of Today’s World
Today’s world is faced be a multitude of problems. Some problems, to which we have a solution, can be solved by some effort, while other problems, to which we have no solution, cannot be solved. Solving problems and creating new ones while doing so is in the nature of us humans. Still, we manage to progress and spend our lives with minimum regrets. The problems our world faces today are mostly solvable, not by the efforts of a certain individual, but by the efforts of us all. Following are some problems that our world faces today, and ways by which we can solve them:
Poverty: When an individual lacks a certain amount of some material possession like money, then he/she is considered to be poor. Extreme poverty is a global challenge; it is seen in undeveloped, developing and even in developed regions. There is always much debate and cry about terrorism but the fact is that poverty today takes more lives. Governments around the world would rather spend the taxpayers money on military supplies than spend it to uplift their citizens and provide them with aid to betterment their lifestyle. It appears as if the poor are voiceless and invisible. But the reality is that the government chooses to turn deaf ears and blind eyes to their cries for help. Poverty has many effects such as starvation, disease. It also fuels violence, both domestic and on a larger scale, causes slavery, child abandonment, child labour, slavery, criminal gangs, substance abuse. It is said to cause terrorism to some level. So we can rightly say that poverty is one of the worst problems faced by the world today.
Unemployment: The condition of lack of a job or any source of income. Unemployment is shaping out to be new but big problem of this decade and the last. Unemployment percentage of a country is calculted by dividing the total number of unemployed people by the total number of people among the population capable of employment. Unemployment is caused due to increase of population (labour force), rapid technological advancements, requirement of higher skilled workers since machines eliminate less complicated tasks. In addition to all this, illiteracy and lack of required skills also causes unemployment. Unemployment is considered a big problem since it is directly linked to causing poverty, which has been described as a major problem above.
Availability of food and clean drinking water for all: Food and water are basic human rights. Access to food and optimal nutrition is known as food security. In order to feed an ever increasing population food production has to grow and the produced food must be made available to all at an affordable price. In addition to that, food proccessing, distribution and marketing must be accordingly uplifted. Making fresh and drinkable water to 7 billion people is another big problem. Water is also needed for irrigation of crops and further in food production processes. Lack of food and water can also be linked to poverty. To tackle food and water inavailability, we will need to take dynamic actions and balance the use of water for both agricutural and drinking purposes.
Illiteracy/Lack of proper Education: A person who cannot read and write in his/her native language is considered to illiterate. Illiteracy is considered to be directly linked with poverty and crime. The Indian government has implemented programs that provide free primary education to all and also have launched programs like ‘Beti Bachaao, Beti Padhaao’ to tackle illiteracy. Though such programs sound good and effective in theory, their implementation can use some checks. The total literacy rate of India still remains 74% and the aim of +90% literacy rate is still a far fetched dream. Illiteracy is linked directly to unemployment (discussed above) and social violence(discussed later). It is thus another major problem.
Opacity of the Government/Corruption: When an organisation or an individual holding some power decide to make exception of rules for certain individuals for the offer of monetary gains of services and money is when an organisation is called as corrupt. Corruption exists on all scales such as petty corruption affecting just few number of individuals to grand corruption affecting whole populations of countries. Corruption today has become so prevalent that it is now a a part of the sturcture of society. Corruption is virtually responsible for organised crime and riots, where politicians and other people of power take advantage of the feelings and emotions of the people of the country and get people to fight for false motives. Thses riots and crimes occur in all scales and proportions all around the world and corruption has engulfed our world. It can be prevented though only through education of the population and joint efforts of us citizens of our country and pledging to not support corruptionin any manner or way.
Large scale violence/Terrorism: The creation of terror among the population by a group of individuals or an organisation by the use of indiscriminant violence is termed as terrorism. Terrorists generally wish to impose certain political, religious or intellectual beliefs in the minds of the people. It is one of the biggest problems that our world faces right now and it is the extract and after math of all the problems mentioned above. Attacking and capturing famous figures among the people and undermining the power of the state is one of the most common tactics that terrorists use. Most terrorist attacks have been performed on the basis of religion and have influenced the most number of people. It is said that exposure by mass media is one of the most common intentions of terrorism, since it is an easy route to directly influencing multitude of people. Illiteracy causes unemployment, which inturn causes poverty. This poor state pushes people to follow the wrong paths and be misused. This makes terrorism and violence the biggest problem faced by our world today.
